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Blog Site Discontinued June 23, 2017

Welcome. This blog site, healthy eating and food safety, has been discontinued as of June 23, 2017. I look forward to your comments and feedback regarding use of this tool to disseminate educational information.

Monday, December 7, 2015

What a Crock! A Crock Pot of Course

What a Crock! A Crock Pot of Course

People tend to use the terms "Crock Pot" and "slow
cookers" interchangeably, but they are not. While all Crock Pots are slow cookers, not all slow cookers
are Crock Pots. Crock Pot is a brand name.

The Crock Pot has an interesting history. The device was inspired by a dish
the inventor's mother told him about. From a humble bowl of bean stew grew a
kitchenware empire. Here's the story:

According to CNET Magazine, an inventor by the name
of Irving Naxon applied for a patent for a food heating device in 1936. His
device consisted of an insert, held up by a case that held a heating device,
which facilitated even heating of food inside the insert. The device was also
portable.

By 1940, he got a patent for the device he called the Naxon Beanery, and he
says his mother inspired him. Naxon's
mother had told him stories about a bean-based stew she used to make in her
village bakery at home in Lithuania. The stew, a traditional Jewish recipe was
supposed to go on the heat before sundown Friday night, when the Sabbath
begins, and cook all the way until the end of Saturday services the next day. As
the ovens were turned off for the Sabbath, the pot of stew would be put in the
oven, and that slow residual heat over the course of the 24 hours would be
enough to cook the recipe. In the early 1970s, he sold his design to Rival
Manufacturing, who rebranded his Beanery and put it on the market as the Crock
Pot. It was marketed toward working women who could put food in the pot before
leaving for the work.

Today, however, slow cooking is as popular as ever. Here are a few things
to remember about using your Crock Pot.

·Fatty, cheaper cuts of meat work better than lean meats,
which tend to toughen up in the slow-cooking process.

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Brown County UW-Extension office tests pressure canner dial gauges at no cost. Please call for an appointment (920.391.4651) or leave off the pressure canner lid at the Brown County UW-Extension office, room 107, 1150 Bellevue Street, Green Bay, WI 54302 and you will be contacted when gauge has been tested.